Butterfly Dream
by Permanent
Summary: Ichinose's living his life in America. FFI spoilers?


Hi guys! I'm back and this time with Inazuma Eleven fanfiction. I recently watched the anime and I am hooked. The following is a very raw first draft. I thought I should post this while I can, because I tend to fizz out. I will edit this and re-upload with a new, rewritten document when I have time. For now, I hope you enjoy this rare piece.

Comments are loved and critique is highly encouraged. I realize that I may have made the Unicorn OOC because I haven't caught up to the latest episode yet, and possibly some plot holes because I haven't done enough research.

* * *

Ichinose ran ahead of the ball, kicking it every few seconds or so. "Guys!" he said. "Let's do the Phoenix!"

Domon and Endou nodded. "Okay!"

Their spiked sneakers hit the dirty ground as they started their trademark running. A moment later, the three players cut into each other's paths in perfect synchronization, a slicing sound made audible throughout the stadium. Ichinose tossed his brown hair back and glanced back at the intersection. Here, a ball enclosed in a hot-blue fire was rising and giving birth to a fiery phoenix. As its bright red wings opened wide, he swiftly jumped into the air and was joined by Domon and Endou. With their control of the ball, they let go of the phoenix towards the goalkeeper's post. A shriek of a bird ensued, and then the ball safely hit the goalpost. It had narrowly avoided the goalie.

"Did you see that?" Endou came back to the American players, his contagious smile beaming widely. He faced his friends, who had performed the hissatsu technique with him. His hands were already gesturing wildly. "That was _incredible_!"

"Wow, that was good," Dylan said, cracking a smile and his glasses gleaming. Mark gave the trio a thumbs-up sign.

Domon was pleased too. "Just like the good old times, eh?"

"Thanks guys," Ichinose gave a sheepish smile, scratching his head absentmindedly. "It was the least we could do, now that Endou-kun's on vacation in America."

"Knowing him, it'll be soccer everyday," Mark muttered in response to the "vacation" part.

"He'll go back to Japan next week, right?" Domon mentioned, ignoring his teammate. He gave a nod at his former captain who was dressed in his old soccer uniform.

Endou nodded, his face already brimming with excitement. "Yeah! America is so great!" He clasped his hands together and his eyes sparkled. "The air is so clean, there's so many trees, ahhh it feels so good to be there! I can't wait to play soccer with others," he added.

Dylan's eyebrow rose at his comrade's words. "Is Japan really that filthy?"

"Dylan!" Ichinose cut him off with a sharp inflection. "Tokyo's not a bad place," he hastily defended. After all, it was where he was born before his immigration to the United States. Endou started to say apologetically that that was not what he meant and that he hadn't meant anything bad about Japan and that he didn't mean to start a fight.

Domon looked to and fro between the boys and tried to think of something to distract them for a moment. He pounded his fist in his palm of the hand as a reminder struck him. "Oh yeah! Ichinose-kun, have you heard anything from Rika?"

"Now that you mention it..." Ichinose's face suddenly blanched. "Oh crap! I totally forgot about her! Gotta go, guys!" He waved them off, as he bolted at once to his backpack sitting on a bleacher and turned a ninety-degree angle to the stadium's exit. "See you later!" In a blink of an eye, he was gone.

"I've never seen Ichinose-kun run this fast," Endou remarked. "Not in my time when we played together."

Mark shrugged. "It happens all the time," he explained. "You just learn how to deal with it."

* * *

"Darling!" her voice screeched. By now, Ichinose had perfected the practice of holding a phone at a manageable distance from his poor, sensitive ears. "Why haven't you called back?" she demanded in such a way that was very like Rika.

He shakily, as he always did, put the phone back to its normal place. "S-Sorry..."

"Were you practicing soccer with Endou-kun?" Ichinose could imagine her face now softening, her anger ebbing. "I knew it, I shouldn't have interrupted your practices. I should be the one who is sorry." In his mind, Rika was moping as she ate her mother's delicious okonomiyaki.

"Ah!—No, that's fine," Ichinose quickly stammered. "It's my fault for not letting you know about soccer practice—" _if you could call that practice_, he mentally noted "—today. Besides..." he hesitated for a moment. "I do enjoy your calls."

On the other side of the world, Rika's face broke into a huge smile. "Darling! You really _do _love me!" Once again, she was jumping to conclusions. It was awfully typical of her.

"Ah, no... no, that's not it..." Ichinose denied rather awkwardly. To him, Rika was a friend, a _special_ friend. He didn't love her any more than Gouenji loved his little sister. Nothing more, nothing less.

There was some temporary static.

"Yeah," Ichinose said absentmindedly, rummaging through his backpack for his homework. It was five o'clock already and he was not going to think about Rika and not finish his schoolwork on time. Again. He turned on his laptop, listening to Rika's chitchat as all girls usually do and the whirr of the fan at the same time.

"...and you wouldn't believe just how much of a jerk that guy is. My friend doesn't deserve to go out with him," she ranted. Then, as if on a cue, she suddenly said, "Hey darling. I'm finally here."

"Here? Are you seeing someone?" Ichinose's pencil casually circled the correct answer to a multiple-choice question. He had decided that whoever invented the multiple-choice question deserved an award for a quick, punctual way to finish his homework (and, unfortunately, long hours on some useless exams).

Rika laughed, or so he imagined. "Aw, darling, don't be jealous." He blinked, confused. She elaborated. "I begged Touko to lend me her airplane, her helicopter, her jet, or whatever because she's a prime minister's daughter and we're friends, right? But she refused! She said that it wasn't a good enough reason to use such expensive service. Yeah right. So here I am."

Then it finally dawned on him. "Rika," Ichinose said slowly, "are you coming to America?" He felt a tap on his shoulder and he swerved around, about to complain to his mother about bothering him.

"Yup!" Urabe Rika confirmed cheerily, standing in front of him in her glory.

Ichinose nearly fell out of his chair.


End file.
